


With Green Eyes Open

by teasprout



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen, and frees the beasts etc, this is a fate swap, zelda is still princess but she's the one who slept for 100 years
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2018-12-21 19:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11951505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teasprout/pseuds/teasprout
Summary: The shrines scattered across the world were supposed to open only for the hero who was destined to save Hyrule. Everyone assumed it would be Link -- he was a hero, through and through. No one thought the ‘chosen hero’ would actually be the ‘good for nothing princess.’





	1. the start of an adventure

All at once she is aware of the darkness; she feels as though it is all around her, and endless in its depth, but also as if she is somehow _part_ of it. Yet the realization brings no urgency to escape -- she is numb even to her own thoughts. 

Out of the black expanse comes a small, dim light that struggles desperately against the dark like a faraway star in the night. It flickers out, then returns with a surging force and flares up with an undeniable strength and brilliance. The light grows brighter and brighter, permeating through the darkness with the unfaltering power of a sun. 

The light becomes a halo for the hazy figure of a woman, and though she tries to look upon her face she is illuminated too brightly to make out anything but long, golden strands of hair afloat around her. She is celestial. The woman's voice reaches her but it is muffled, and she cannot understand it. She calls out to her again and again, and her voice becomes clearer each time. 

_"Open your eyes. Wake up -- **Zelda.** "_

The moment she is able to understand the woman's voice she wakes, blinking away the darkness only to find herself within a dim, dusty room. The sound of liquid draining is loud in her ears and her wet skin feels a chill when the air finally hits it. At last the basin she is in empties, and she sits herself up, squinting in the blue light. She swings her legs over the edge and it's only when she feels the distinct smoothness of the stone against her that she realizes she is merely clad in dark navy undergarments. The fabric clings to her as she rises, managing to stand with a body that feels as uncertain as her memory. 

There are little orange lights aglow on the walls of the room, and upon seeing them she is left with a sense of nostalgia that she can't quite place. The strange familiarity increases when she finds a small pedestal, softly glowing in a gentle shade of blue. It brightens ever so slightly when she nears it, the center piece rising to meet her; upon the pedestal lies a tablet that shines the same shades of blue and orange that light the room. Something within her beckons her to take it, and when she does the center piece returns to the rest of the pedestal, but she spends no more time on it as the rumbling of stone catches her attention. 

Slates of stone rise upwards, noisily disappearing into the frame, revealing a path forwards and presumably out of the structure. She waits for the door to be completely open before making her way through it, a hand securely placed on her upper arm as if it would guard her mostly exposed body. She almost expects the door to fall violently behind her, but it doesn't, and it offers her some semblance of security. Her gaze falls on two chests amidst worn crates and broken barrels.

A bare knee finds its way to the floor, and her hand reaches out to the stone chest before her mind can stop it, as if she is driven by some measure of curiosity or perhaps a fragment of understanding. The stone of the chest is rough against her skin, but it does not deter her, and soon she manages to lift the top open. Green eyes peer in to find white fabric neatly folded within it, and upon removing the item from the chest she finds that it is shirt. It is a welcome discovery, and though her current garb is still slightly damp, she puts her arms through the long billowy sleeves and buttons it up all the way to the high collar. She is satisfied when she sees that the fabric is thick enough that her undergarment does not show through. 

In the other remaining chest she finds a pair of brown pants, and when she puts them on she finds they are more form fitting than the shirt, but they are not too tight and they don't hinder her movement, so she happily wears them. She also finds a pair of lighter brown belts, and though she doesn't foresee herself needing more than one, she adjoins them both about her waist and hooks a little pouch that was also in the chest onto them; she secures the strange tablet on the belts near her hip. The last item she finds is a pair of short, dark brown boots, and she breathes a sigh of relief when they fit her. Her mind flitters to the thought that perhaps everything was left here for her, but with so little else in her mind to aid her, she moves past the notion and towards something more certain. 

While she was dressing she noticed a pedestal that looked like the one from the previous room, and so she makes her way through the room to it. It glows a faint orange, unlike the last she encountered, and for a moment she isn't sure what to do. She unhooks the tablet from her belt and holds it near the pedestal in the hopes that it might be a way of controlling the device, but it does not respond. She keeps it in her hands and bends towards the pedestal to get a better look, and as she does so the slate barely touches the face of it. The contact is brief, but enough to transform the lights from orange to blue. An artificial voice reaches her pointed ears -- 「Authenticating... Sheikah Slate confirmed.」

She muses to herself that the tablet in her hands must be the "Sheikah Slate," but she affords it no more thought as the door begins to open and warm white light streams in from behind the stone slabs as they move ever upwards. The light is almost blinding after being in such a dimly lit place and out of instinct her eyes shut tightly, but the light brings with it fresh air and the sharp contrast forces her to realize how still and stuffy the air was inside the structure. 

When her eyes adjust she makes her way up the stairs that lie before her, and through the pool of water just beyond them ( at that moment, she is very thankful to whoever left the boots behind ). Her path is abruptly blocked by a tall stone wall that is more than double her height; there is no other way through the hall, so she inspects the rock closely and finds a crack wide enough to use as a foothold. She almost cuts her hands on the rough stone as she uses all her strength to lift herself up and over the edge, but she manages it and raises her head towards the light.

A simple few steps is all that stands between her and the soft green grass that dances in the sun, and so she climbs the stairs swiftly and makes her way out. The light is warm and gentle on her skin, and the breeze that greets her lifts her golden hair playfully, pulling at the still wet strands that fall around her. Her hair is free and shining beneath the sun, and she smiles against the wind; if any were to look upon her in this moment, they would surely agree that she appears utterly and completely heavenly.

The sunlight pours down upon every piece of flora she can see -- the colors her eyes find out here are so much more vibrant than what she has seen since her awakening. She steps towards the farthest end of the cliff and takes in all that her vibrant green eyes can find. There are more trees than she can possibly count sprinkled across the landscape, and mountains towering in the distance -- she sees black smoke rising from a far off volcano and the pointed tips of a castle's exterior on the horizon. The world seems so wide, and it's a bit unnerving after being in such a small room, but it also fills her racing heart with an excitement that takes hold of her very soul. 

Somewhere out there are the answers she seeks -- but also, there is **_adventure._**


	2. a light on the horizon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im SORRY this took so long!!! life happened. anyway im here to continue this now! to make up for it, this is more than double the length of the first chapter lol

She can feel something gripping in her heart when she stands before the open wild, feet planted on the cliff overlooking trees and possibilities innumerous. Green eyes watch the birds flitter by as elegant pointed ears hear the quiet rustling of life outside the cave she awoke in. Beyond the treetops and the green she can see fog, and low hanging clouds, and the tips of spires claiming a place on the horizon. Her soul itself locks onto those spires. It's a strange sensation that she can't quite place, but somewhere in her chest she's longing for something. The more she looks, the more she longs, and very suddenly she's a step closer to the cliff's edge without much idea of how her feet got there. 

There's something out there that's pulling her heart, something inside her aching to be just an inch closer to that castle in the distance.

A rush of cold wind brushes across her cheeks and puts a hush in her ears -- like a mother whispering to her child. It pushes her feet back from the edge and she almost stumbles over the stones on the ground, as even as she moves she's still fixated on that exact place where those desperate spires touch the sky. Rosy lips open, as if to ask a question, but she's stopped when she realizes she hasn't the faintest idea what question she's so eager to ask. 

Movement starts in her periphery and she catches it, her curiosity only trumped by her sense of danger. Blonde hair flies around her shoulders with the force of her turn, and she spots a dark figure down the path aways. Their height is offset by the towering ruins nearby, which some instinct tells her must hold some answers to the emptiness in her head. The figure turns and head towards a flickering flame, and those dancing sparks kindle the fire that's been burning in her since her eyes opened.

There's nothing else she can do but go towards them, entranced and enraptured and very, very desperate. She brushes through the tall grass of the plateau easily, but is stopped by a few mushrooms which she can't help but linger near. She plucks a small one easily from the ground, and brushes off the soil from her knees before she tucks her treasure neatly into one of her pouches. She isn't sure why, but the action feels so familiar that it almost hurts. 

She continues on, pushing her unsettling feelings aside. She has a companion on her stroll, momentarily, as a little squirrel dashes out from the bushes and heads in her same direction. It doesn't take long for the little creature to overtake her, as it clearly had places to be and knew exactly where it was going. Zelda, however, had a more vague sense of the world and her place within it. So she did not rush, and instead kept her pace as she gave each blade of grass and every chip on the cliffside equal appreciative glances.

Before she approaches the figure, she carefully takes a tree branch that was nestled in the tall grass and attaches it to the strap on her back. It's not the most ideal defensive tool, but it's better than nothing, she decides. And if the scars she found on her body when she changed into the clothes that were left for her were any indication, she was going to have to make caution her best friend if she was going to survive very long. 

With her makeshift weapon secure, the time came face to face with the figure she saw watching her on the cliff. The warmth of the fire doesn't soothe her as she nears it, instead the long forgotten heat puts her on edge. Her muscles tense and she eyes the stranger warily as his face comes into view beneath the fabric that covers it. 

A white fluffy beard juts out, falling over his chest and filling up the space in his hood. Wrinkles run carelessly across his face, but his oldest features are without question his eyes. His mouth is stern and tightly shut, but his eyes tell a different story. His eyes are filled with sorrow and joy and pain and a thousand other things she can't begin to identify. They seem as old as time itself, and for a moment she thinks they are growing wetter. It sets off a similar reaction in her own heart, and for a single heartbeat her lip quivers. Before she can make sense of anything, he sharply turns his head, staring at the fire which seems to dry up any emotion that was seeping from the cracks.

"...Well met." His voice cracks in tune with the fire, and he takes a moment to clear it. "It's -- rather unusual to see another soul in these parts..." He speaks as though he had gravel in his throat, but in perfect juxtaposition, his words come fluidly as if they had been painstakingly rehearsed.

"Is it?" She tilts her chin up, keeping her back straight. Even though the old man is sitting, he is still not a great deal shorter than she is. She knows if he were to stand, he would certainly loom over her. "Then what are _you_ doing here?"

"Me?" He smiles bittersweetly, seeming equally appreciative and pained by her caution. "I'll spare you the life story of an old fool like me. I've lived on this plateau, alone, for a long, long time now. Forgive me for my surprise upon seeing you."

"Why do you live here alone?"

"I've been waiting to see someone again... Someone I have missed dearly." 

"I see..." At this, she pauses. A pang of sympathy runs through her at the gentleness in his voice. "Well, I hope you reunite with them soon." 

"My thanks, young one. I feel now more than ever that the Goddess may have mercy on me, yet." Sincerity rings through his eyes as he moves to stand, tall and proud, but not as intimidating as she had expected. "Now then... What brings a young woman like you to a place like this?"

"I wish I knew... I feel as though I have something important to do. Perhaps you might assist me? What is the name of this place?"

"This is the Great Plateau." He moves towards the sunlight, gesturing out over the open plains with his walking stick. "This is the birthplace of the kingdom of Hyrule... or so the legends say. The temple over yonder was the site of many sacred ceremonies, but as you can see it has fallen into a state of decay along with the rest of the kingdom over the past one hundred years. Now, it is merely a ghost of its former self..." 

A chill runs through her bones for reasons she can't explain, and she feels compelled to venture further towards the temple ruins. "Thank you for your help." She says as the old man returns to sit beside his fire. 

"Take this." A large hand offers a baked apple up towards her, which she takes without the reserve she held in her heart when she first approached. "And please don't hesitate to let me know if I may be of any further service." 

With a nod she was off down the grass covered slope which served as her best pathway. She takes the time to eat her apple, which gives her a degree of strength she hadn't realized she was lacking. Her boots are more sturdy when they hit the ground with each step she takes, and she retrieves a woodcutting axe from a tree stump with more ease than she anticipated. She leaves behind her tree branch, satisfied with her new weapon.

It's only when the temple begins to come into view that she remembers the slate she picked up back in the cave. Eager fingers find it on her belt and activate it, discovering a black void and a few glowing points that stood apart from it. She learns the cave was in fact a shrine called the Shrine of Resurrection. This information only confuses her more as she continues down the pathway. Why was she in such a place? How long had she been there? Did it have anything to do with the scars that she continued to discover on her body? -- The questions were endless, and the answers few.

Another point seems to light up on the slate and she uses the built-in compass to change her direction and head straight for it. The ruins will remain ruins, but she doesn't know what's waiting for her out there. She continues watching the Sheikah Slate, using it to guide her as she walks until she hears a startling cry. She whips her head up, blonde hair flying about as she catches the sight of a shining object in the distance. She realizes in record time that it's sunlight reflecting off an incoming arrow and narrowly manages to throw herself behind a rock, the axe on her back slamming against her with the force of her dive. She thinks it will knock the wind out of her, but it doesn't. She's sturdier than she thought! Maybe she was used to this before she went to sleep?

There's no time to dwell on it, so she peaks out around the rock to find two red creatures with large ears hunting for her. Her blood runs cold and she finds herself trembling... why? Why did every fiber of her being scream out upon seeing them? Why did she feel a sense of dread far beyond what her reaction to danger should have been? Ah, more questions.

The creatures move out into the open and she sees that one bears a shield and a sword, and the other clutches the offending bow and arrow -- she'd much prefer that to her axe right about now, she thinks. Then, she realizes, it might be a good idea to obtain that bow if these creatures dominate the plateau. She feels more confident in her ability to shoot straight than swing an axe around haphazardly. A shield wouldn't hurt, either.

That's all she needs to form her plan. She was taking those creatures weapons one way or another. They shot first, and they didn't seem like they were looking to reason with her. She doesn't like the idea of killing them, but if it's her or them, she has no choice.

She pulls the long handle of the axe into her two hands and steadies herself. The creature with the sword turns away from her. It's now or never. With a surge of desperation she dashes forwards, the blade of the axe behind her in her flury. Just before she reaches the creature she plants her right foot firmly into the ground and directs all her momentum into the swing of her weapon. She lands one diagonal hit, then another, and with great effort she swings once more for good measure. 

Just as the creature falls an arrow whizzes by and strikes her firmly in her left shoulder. She lets out a choked gasp and falls to one knee, clenching her teeth so her cries of pain wouldn't alert any more monsters lurking nearby to her presence. She knows this is the right thing to do, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. She grabs the arrow and rips it out of her shoulder in a moment of adrenaline -- she realizes it isn't the greatest idea but she can't swing her axe with it still puncturing her. And she needs to fight. Survive.

All her instincts tell her to abandon her axe in favor of the sword the creature held, and the moment she feels how much lighter it is, she thanks herself for it. She can use this sword with one hand, so she loosely clutches the leftover shield and holds it over her wound. Another arrow hits the ground by her feet and she takes that as her cue to move. 

She keeps her body low to the ground, moving in a zig-zag pattern to avoid the arrows the creature continues to shoot her way. Battle is a rhythm she decides, and this one she dictates by the pulses of pain emanating from her shoulder. With every beat of pain she moves a bit quicker, as if the sand of an hourglass was about to run out. They see her approach so she lacks the element of surprise that she had before, but with no shield or close range weapon, she's able to maintain the upper hand. She dispatches the archer with quicker, more fluid strikes despite her injury. A sword suits her better than an axe, to be sure. Even better is the bow and quiver the creature had, which she takes for herself. 

She decides she'll have trouble pulling back the bow while her shoulder is injured, so she straps the quiver to one of her belts and attaches the bow loosely to her back so that in a pinch she could easily retrieve it. She attaches her new shield in a similar manner. She stuff the quiver with a few arrows she finds lying around, and adds a horn and fang to her inventory of spoils. She might be able to trade them for goods or currency if she reaches a town, she thinks. It's only practical to take them along until they become a hassle to carry.

She finds the location marked on her slate nestled in a few large rocks nearby, but before she enters she's struck by the name 'Bokoblin.' She can't recall where it came from, or why it popped into her head, but as her adrenaline fades she feels sure that this was the name of the creatures she just fought. She must have been familiar with them at some point. Perhaps one was responsible for some of the scars on her body? No... Even without any memories, she bested them easily enough. Her scars must have been the result of something far more threatening.

She pushes away any further thoughts from her mind and heads toward a pedestal, much like the one she encountered in the shrine she awoke in. Theres a design on the ground that resembles the same type of architecture, so she deduces they must be related. The shrine didn't seem to pose a threat to her -- rather it seemed to have aided her at some point in the past -- so she decides to entrust the pedestal with her Sheikah Slate as it requests her to do. 

The slate fits perfectly into its slot, and the pedestal sets the dusty, dirt filled pseudo-cave aglow in warm orange light. A faint synthesized voice speaks -- 「Please watch for falling rocks.」She tilts her head to the side, wondering if she heard correctly. Her eyes glance upwards, but her surroundings seem the same. She heaves a sigh, taking a step away from the pedestal.

"Well, this was pointless. Perhaps the temple, then --" Before she can finish her thought, the ground begins to shake and a few pieces of rock fall beside her. The force of the tremors knocks her feet out from under her, and with a loud thud her back becomes very well aquatinted with the ground. Her shoulder stings with the pain of it.

The trembling continues and she can feel rocks peeling away, and sunlight suddenly comes pouring in. She realize whatever she's on is rocketing upwards into the sky, the force of it pressing her even harder against the ground. With a jolt they stop moving, but plumes of dirt and dust continue upwards. She, however, is very glad to be stationary. Various parts of the tower have turned from orange to blue, which doesn't surprise her more than her new viewpoint does. 

She's too enraptured by how far she can see -- and what appear to be even more of these same towers out on the horizon -- to notice the same synthesized voice speaking to her once more. She does notice when the stone above her slate glows a bright blue, and strange symbols seem to be flowing down it into a mysterious eye that peers through her. The eye sheds a single blue tear onto her slate, which reveals a map of her surroundings. The black void that once seemed as empty as her memory was replaced by trees and mountains and lakes. It struck her as a symbol of hope more than anything else.

She could do this. She could get off this plateau. She could do whatever it was that her soul was telling her she so desperately needed to do!

The pedestal raised and offered her back her slate, which she took and reattached to her belt. It's value had suddenly increased tremendously, so she secures it a bit tighter this time. 

"Remember..." A quiet voice calls to her, vague in her mind like mist. "Try... Try to remember..." It's a woman's voice, gentle and warm. It's comforting, not commanding. There's a light shining from the dark castle on the horizon, and it pulls her towards it yet again. Her feet make it to the very edge of the tower, and even then they yearn to take a step closer. "You have been asleep for the past one hundred years." 

She knows this is true somewhere in her heart -- and the voice, sounds so familiar... It's the same voice that beckoned her to awaken. Who? Who was guiding her? Her mouth opens, but the ground shakes again and a dark shadow moves around the castle, covering its spires as it circles it. It is a mass of darkness, with streaks that shine purple and red in the light.

"The beast... When the beat regains its true power, this world will face its end." Her voice is resolute and strong, and she feels it ring throughout her body -- it's no longer faint, it's more real than anything she's felt so far. More than the adrenaline of the fight, more than the pain of her injury, more than her sympathy for the old man who waits alone on this godforsaken plateau. It's more real than the fear she feels when the beast she speaks of lets out a howling roar, screaming its wrath and scorn to the heavens. Even so, the bright light from the castle never wavers. It screams even brighter against it, filling the land with it's warmth like a second sun. The beast dissipates under its radiance. 

"Now then... You must hurry, Zelda. Before it's too late..." The woman's voice gets quieter and quieter with each word she speaks, until it is completely gone. 

"What... was that?" Her words come uncertain from her throat, into the empty air around her. But her heart burns with a fire stronger than ever before. She turns around with renewed vigor and finds a hole in the tower, leading to a platform a fair bit below -- it's farther than she wants to drop down. Green eyes glance over the edge. The ground is a farther fall. She takes a step closer to the hole, her nails digging crescents into her palms. 

"One way down." 

She jumps.


End file.
